“Yeah.”
“I’m not even surprised by that,” she says, then looks over my shoulder and waves as she stands with a smile on her face. “Hey, Harry.”
“Mia.” The man who asked her out before she agreed to go out with me wraps an arm around her waist and kisses her cheek. My jaw clenches as I stand to look down at him, and he smiles oddly as he looks between Mia and me. “I thought you said you don’t date customers.”
“Talon was very persistent.” She laughs, looking at me with a warm smile that helps ease some of the tension I’m feeling.
“I’ll have to keep that in mind,” he responds, grabbing her hand. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a meeting with a client.” He kisses her knuckles, and I somehow manage not to punch him in the face. “I’ll be in touch soon,” he tells her then shifts his attention to me. “Nice seeing you again.”
I lift my chin then watch him walk between tables to take a seat across from Roscoe Brute, one of the top real estate developers in the area and one of the biggest slime balls around. When Bax and I were buying the land for the house we’re building, he attempted to outbid us, but the family who owned the property was only selling a piece of their land, and they didn’t want the lot we purchased to be overdeveloped, so they turned him down. “Are you ready to go?” Mia asks, resting her palm on my chest and pulling me from my thoughts.
“Yeah, baby, let’s go.” I pull some cash out of my wallet and toss it on the table then place my hand in the middle of her back to lead her out of the restaurant. Once she’s buckled in, I slam her door then get in behind the wheel and back out of my space, Roscoe and Harry’s relationship bothering me to the point of irritation.
“What kind of work does Harry do?” I ask as I drive toward the dealership.
“I don’t know for sure, but I think something in real estate. Why?”
“Just curious.”
She reaches over to place her hand on my thigh. “You don’t like him.”
“He wants in your pants.”
“He’s not getting in my pants.”
I glance over and catch her smile. “I’d kill him if he tried, Mia. I can hardly keep from putting hands on him when he touches you,” I admit then look at her when I stop at a red light. “But it’s more than the fact that he wants you that has me on edge when it comes to him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it, but something about him is off.”
“I’ll keep my guard up when I’m around him,” she assures, giving my thigh a squeeze, and I cover her hand with mine. Thankfully, she isn’t shutting down my concern and thinking I’m being a jealous, possessive boyfriend.
“Thanks, baby.”
“I got your back,” she says as I turn into the dealership and park in one of the empty spaces then turn toward her after I put the engine in park. Unlatching her seatbelt, she crawls over the console between us and takes my face in her hands. “Two more days.”
“Two days.” I smile, because Friday can’t come soon enough. “If I didn’t have so much work to keep me busy, I’m not sure this would work for me,” I say, smoothing her hair away from her face.
“I know.” She drops her forehead to my chin. “But with my parents being here now, I might be able to get away a little more often.”
“Hey.” I tuck my fingers under her chin to raise her gaze to mine. “We’ll make this work. I know you need to be there for your sister and your nieces. I knew that when we started this, and I’m okay with it. We’ll find our time.” I brush my mouth against hers then sigh when I see the time on the dash. “You need to get to work, and so do I.”
“I don’t want to.” She pouts, and I laugh, wrapping my arms around her as her arms circle my back and her head rests against my chest under my chin. “We’ll have the whole weekend.”
“Except I have to work Saturday,” she groans.
“Right, so we’ll have most of the weekend.”
She leans back, and the moment her eyes meet mine, I see she’s as invested in this relationship as I am. That even though she might be afraid of getting hurt, she’s let her walls down. I lean forward and cover her mouth with mine, hoping like fuck she feels how appreciative I am that she’s willing to put her heart on the line.
_______________
As Mia pulls into the driveway, I walk out the front door to meet her. Even with seeing her for lunch almost every day and the amount of work I’ve had to keep me busy, the week has dragged. When I reach the end of the walkway, I brace as she runs toward me and step back on one foot when she jumps into my arms.